A fiction and generic writing journal

Pendown's guide to writing believable scientists

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:05:56 GMT

[Disclaimer: This isn't targetting anyone on my flist - just some of my other reading material which has exasperated me]

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I've found it!), but 'That's funny...'
Isaac Asimov

1: Few scientists are going to curl up in a ball when presented with something that doesn't fit their fundamental theories.

When something doesn't fit existing scientific theories there's masses of research to be done. You can come up with fascinating results and there are reputations to be made. There is nothing more likely to get scientists swarming into a field than the presence of a result that can't be explained by the known laws of science. And the average scientist is going to simply say "Cool!" (or words to that effect) when presented by a repeatable result that they can't explain.

This isn't to say that scientists don't think the world runs on rules. Or that their initial response is going to be disbelief. But they will then check and double check and publish when they are sure the theories are wrong.

2: Sacred Cows make the best hamburgers

If there are more than a dozen scientists in the world who would not want to overturn any major scientific theory if they got the evidence, I'm surprised. Reknown, correction of error, and simply discovering more about the world and making it known. Almost every scientist wants to start a Khun-style paradigm shift. So if they could overturn any established theory they would.

3: Publish or Perish. Scientist-lead conspiracies are rare.

A scientist's reputation is made by what they have published. So hushing up the truth is very bad at a personal level. Every scientist knows that what they know is down to thousands of other scientists, some more famous than others, working and publishing what they discovered.

This is not to say it is impossible (or even that hard) to involve scientists in a conspiracy. Any group with guns can get many scientists to keep quiet. As can bribery or threats. Scientists are as human as the rest of us.

4: Scientists like to play

They are in some ways like little kids. "Why can't I do this." "What would happen if I combined this and that?" Anyone who portrays them as humourless is wrong. Anyone who portrays them as incurious so blatantly misses what a scientist is that they shouldn't be writing them at all.

5: A Theory is not a Hypothesis. And Evidence Against outweighs evidence for.

This is a general point. In coloquial language, a theory is the same as a hypothesis - an educated guess. In scientific terminology a Theory has been tested with every observation that anyone can find. It really is a case of the true meaning of "The Exception Proves the Rule" - each apparent exception needs to be tested and explained in the case of a scientific theory or it ceases to be a valid theory.

One contradictory fact in science can overturn an entire Theory. (And contradictory facts are the most likely way of producing the 'That's Funny' reaction in point 1). And so the exceptions are always more interesting than the standard cases. And tend to have been tested to death.

Note that because evidence against so overwhelmingly outweighs evidence for in science, scientists often appear nitpicky. And to extrapolate what would happen if the other person was right and use this to disprove them. This is normal, as is the "Fetch me a horse" approach to dealing with arguments about the number of teeth in the head of one.

6: The Hypothesis that predicts nothing doesn't belong in science

String theorists, I'm looking at you! That isn't at present science, it's a mutant branch of mathematics hiding in the Theoretical Physics department.

If you have a prediction you can test it. And in particular you can falsify it - come up with predictions of what would happen if it wasn't true. If it isn't falsifiable it ultimately isn't science.

7: C.P. Snow was right. Scientists can talk to artists but not often the other way.

Most scientists are interested in things. And that includes art or aesthetics of some type. And they tend to learn the theories about it because they are curious about how it works. (See point 4). But in order to understand science you need to understand a fair amount of mathematics - and most people don't. (Note: Scientists and Mathematicians are not the same people).

8: No scientist knows everything about science

OK. So this is a Holywood simplification. But there is a vast amount of knowledge about science to be had. And a Theoretical Physicist certainly isn't a Geneticist. Both have research literature based on the work of thousands upon thousands of people to master. And no one can learn it all. To be generalist scientist at professional level would be significantly harder than a musician who played every instrument at professional level. That said they tend to be more knowledgable than the average layman in other disciplines (at least in part because they can handle much of the mathematics and tend to be curious).

So which standard tropes can you keep especially if you want realistic scientists as villains? Obvious ones are:

The Meticulous Nerd

There is a correlation between being on the autistic end of the spectrum and understanding and liking mathematics. Nerds are common - and as a group scientists often enjoy each others nerdiness. Also scientists need to be meticulous to control all the factors in their experiments. (And to name one famous example, Darwin wasn't all that bright as scientists go. But he was utterly meticulous - and it was this that made his views on the Origin of Species so influential.)

"'Once the rockets go up who cares where they come down. That's not my department' said Wehrner von Braun" - Tom Lehrer

Most scientists would care - but then so would most people. Not all would. And many people don't care about the wider impact of their work. Also scientists (like people) tend to be overconfident about the good sides of their work and think the bad sides will all work out. But it wasn't for nothing that some of the Manhattan Project team were staunch advocates of using nuclear bombs from everything for space-propulsion to mining to constructing harbours.

Because We Can

This is the dark side of the childlike sense of play. If you've ever watched children, they can be cruel. And often do things because they don't have the empathy to see why they shouldn't. Not all are this way (scientists as a rule being a bright and imaginative group). But some are cruel (as indeed some people are). And such groups are self-selecting. If you really are empathic and not cruel you are unlikely to e.g. apply to be a scientist testing cosmetics on animals. Or other dark sides of medical research. Or research that takes place on werewolves to see why they were (to take a fictional example). Although searching for a cure or medical cures for werewolfism might take unpleasant methods and be performed by good people in the same way that medical research into cancer on animals is more defensible than cosmetic testing is.

Goodbye to Comics

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 23:47:11 GMT

Possibly not entirely. But I won't be following them any more.

I've been making comments about it for a while. And the death of scans_daily has been the final straw - but it's been coming for quite a while.

As for why, there are a handful of characters I've really liked over the years. Let's look at them briefly.

In Marvel's corner:
Spider-man. Who has made a deal with the devil, and turned into an unlikable twit. Gone.
Iron-man. The villain of Civil War. No.
The X-men: Y'what now? Far too PhD to get into the comics.

About the only thing I've seen from Marvel recently that I'd want to pick up is Captain Britain and MI-13. Especially as it doesn't have the civillian population treating 616 as their combined IQ. Repeatedly (Dark Reign).

In DC's corner:
Oracle. Black Lantern? Turning back into Batgirl? Gimme a break. I jumped off BoP when Gail Simone left. An even better decision than I realised at the time.
Black Canary. Is being made to play second fiddle to her idiot husband. Not as low as she's been, but annoying.
Jaime. Agghhh. Stoppit. Way to end on a low.
Batgirl. Beechen! No!
Batman: Wtf?
Tim Drake: is there a game of Break the Cutie going on? I don't want to watch if so.
Scott+Barda. RIP.
Impulse. OK, so it was a while ago.

The Big 2 seem to be utterly intent on destroying my favourite characters. About the only ray of lihgt is that I'm hearing good things about Cassie, and no one seems to have touched Courtney or Zinda.

OK, so I'm not gone entirely. THere's a beaut I intend to pick up Doktor Sleepless vol 2 when it comes out, complete my Lucifer, Transmet, and Empowered collections, and possibly pick up some odds and sods (definitely including Showcase Suicide Squad if it's ever released and I see it). But that's about it.

Marvel Kink meme

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 21:55:44 GMT

I've been responding to requests at the Marvel Kink Meme

Obadiah/Pepper: don't worry - I'm not quite perverse enough for sex between them

The only acknowledgement of current Spider-man I'm planning on

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:28:25 GMT

This appeared as a moral dilemma 'cause at first
It was weird how you swore to eliminate the worst
Of the plague that devoured my comics it's true
You started so very well so how can it be that you
Have shown me the light

It's a Brand New Day!
And the sales aren't high
All the birds are singing and I wonder why
How I heasitated now I'm gonna fly
It's a brand new day

All the times that you screwed up completely I'll forgive
All the clone war sagas, listen honestly I'll live
Mr Sad, Mr Putz, Peter Parker is through
Now my wallet's so full and I owe it all to you
Who showed me the light

It's a brand new him He's got no remorse
Now the comic's fading but the reading's harder
It's gonna shock the fans, loved by Quesada
It's a Brand New Day

And Diamond will see the bad in it
A bad joke, a dork, and a failure
And he may smile but his mirth will fail
When he has a look at the latest sales, yeah

It's a brand new day yeah the clouds are black
All the marvel staff laught you useless hack
Go ahead and laugh you're gonna get the sack
Say that you will be back
It's a brand new day

Sorry for the really bad rhymes - this was written in a few minutes in an IM conversation with lilaeth - and I really don't want to give BND much more time than that.

Cheating

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:54:47 GMT

For museofspeed's Porn battle
Cheating: Babs/Kory.
Rating: R

"Bye, Dick."

"But how?" A nude Dick Grayson caused both remaining girls to lick their lips. But there was an unappealing whine to his tone.

Batgirl glanced at Kory. It looked as if Kory was going to be the first too lose all her clothes, but appearances were slightly deceptive. Batgirl might be covered from cowl to ankles, but all she was wearing was the one piece Batgirl costume. Kory's strappy little costume might not conceal anything in particular, but there were two pieces to it. And runner up had to pay a forfeit to the winner that didn't leave the room.

"I can read the back of your deck as well as you can, short pants." She assumed that the same was true of Kory. And Barbara could also deal seconds as well as Dick could.

"Fine." Dick left slightly huffily.

"X'hal! You beat him with his own tricks?" Kory dealt five cards each. Barbara looked at hers. A,Q,J,10 of Diamonds and 8 of clubs. "Maybe there are things to learn from you."

Never bet on an inside straight, huh? That depends what's up your sleeves. "I'll take one." Barbara turned in the club and was rewarded with something useless. Not that it mattered.

"Four kings." Kory turned her hand over. Barbara knew that that was a lie - she'd removed the king of hearts from the deck on her first shuffle.

"Royal Flush." Barbara turned her hand over, the two kings of diamonds looking accusingly at each other. Barbara and Kory held each other's gaze for about half a minute before they mutually decided not to say anything. Barbara wasn't sure who broke the gaze first - with Kory's blank eyes it was so hard to tell.

Kory stood up and put her hands on her hips. She's not going to? thought Barbara. Teasingly, Kory put her thumbs into her panties and her right thumb tugged down gently, causing the jeweled buckle holding it to the remaining straps to open. She then turned her back to Barbara, drawing Barbara's eyes to her ass and long legs as she bent forwards and drew the underwear down. "That will make your forfeit easier."

Kory's words caused Barbara to make a sharp intake of breath. But she wasn't out of tricks just yet. "New rule. For the final garment, winner strips the loser. My hands gently roaming under what's left of your clothing, caressing or pinching as I choose."

As Kory straightened, Barbara saw a flush cross her normally red-gold face turn pure gold and her eyes darken. Seemingly she was getting to Kory, but Kory's response returned the complement. "You have so much more skin under that bat-suit than I do under this."

Barbara dealt. 2-5 in varying suits, and a jack. It was worth the risk. "One. And I'm going to take my time with you."

"Two." Kory drew two cards and her tongue flicked across her lips. "I can reach down" Kory's left hand dipped out of sight, and there was a slight green glow under the table. Kory squirmed in her seat, and Barbara found it equally impossible to sit still.

Batgirl looked at what she'd drawn and replaced the six with a palmed seven. "Nothing. You win."

"X'hal. I was so sure you had." Two seven highs faced each other across the table, both lead by the seven of clubs. "I want to check your sleeves."

There was a new wrinkle. But Barbara wasn't going to let herself be punished (and she was sure that that was Kory's new plan) without struggling. "Only if I can" Kory didn't really have anywhere to hide cards, but inspiration struck just in time "check your hair."

"Come on then." Kory stood, turned her back to Barbara and threw a saucy wink over her shoulder.

Barbara, never one to back down, stood and gently reached both her hands into Kory's hair, almost immediately finding a card. The thick hair tangled round her hands and stuck to itself. The hairs themselves felt almost like a warm glow, and Babs could see her costume parting under them, and felt her skin tingle where they touched.

"So I've been bad." Kory stepped back, her hair now enfolding Babs and looked over her shoulder, her lips parted. Babs felt the tingling warmth criss-cross her entire front, her costume giving way to the strands and her knees feeling very weak. "So have you."

Babs gasped, shreds of her costume falling round her. But she stepped even closer into Kory's hair, feeling it flow between her legs as she did, and her nipples touch Kory's very warm back.

Kory's voice was very breathy as she continued. "And you know what happens to bad people?"

"They get what they deserve." Babs lent in for a kiss.

Somnophilia

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 17:09:42 GMT

Inspired by cissie_king and seriousfic, I've written what I consider my most disturbing fic ever.

Title: (Sleeping) Beauty
Rating: Strong R. In a sane world there is no way it would have a lower rating than e.g. Parcel Passing Time.
Characters: Cass/Steph
Theme: Somnophilia
Warnings: Possible triggering.

Spoiler opened her eyes to see a familiar solid mask bending over her. She thought Batgirl was smiling under the mask, but it was honestly quite hard to tell. But with Batgirl watching over her, she felt absolutely safe even exposed on a rooftop in a way she had never done at home. She wore the mask to protect others from monsters such as the one who claimed to be her father, but that didn't mean she wasn't scared of them. Cass, however, was the strongest monster she had ever met, even stronger than the Bat, and being watched over by Cass felt extremely safe and warm.

That said, it was only the waking up that felt nice. “Do you have to do that?”

“This?” A black-clad hand reached out too fast for Steph to do anything about and touched her lightly on the mask covering her cheek. Cass appeared to think for a second. “Yes.”

“Then could you at least teach me how to do it?” Steph was getting fed up of that technique, but could see how useful it could be.

Steph saw Cass's eyes widen and heard her sudden intake of breath. But the only actual reply Batgirl gave was “Yes. Follow.” So Spoiler followed Batgirl. It wasn't hard when she could see that Cass was slowing down for her (something she seldom did).

“Steph?” Cass had stopped on a rooftop. Steph just had time for her eyes to widen as she saw a very familiar open hand coming towards her.

Steph opened her eyes to find she was lying on a bed in a fairly dark room, and by the feel of her feet and leg her boots and garter had been taken off. Sitting in a lotus position and calmly watching her was Cass, her full costume still on. Cass gave her a few seconds to look round the spartan room (one bed which she was on, one uncomfortable chair, no decorations) then said “My home.”

Steph sat up and smiled. “And like the cave...”

Cass didn't finish the thought. There was no need. Instead she reached over and touched Steph's face. “The nerve strike requires pressing two clusters here and here” Cass laid her fingers on the two points and slowly increased the pressure. Steph saw the world go first grey and then black, but could swear that Cass was smiling slightly.

Steph woke up almost exactly as she had before with one major difference. She was missing her mask. She shrugged. It wasn't as if she was trying to keep her face secret from Cass anyway.

“Your turn” Cass reached out and took Steph's hand in hers and pressed it to her cheek. “Find those points.”

Steph stroked lightly round the back of Cass's jaw, finding a couple of points that seemed to be in the right place. Cass's jaw fell open and the light faded from her eyes as her head fell on to her chest. To Steph, Cass looked like a caricature of her normal tautly controlled self, and the trickle of drool running down her chin from her open mouth really didn't help. She watched her unconscious friend for a few minutes, and then decided to take off her mask to see if it would help (and because fair was fair). That didn't help so she laid Cass flat out on the bed she'd woken up on and watched for the uncomfortable chair.

The light slowly returned to Cass's eyes. “Did you see?”

“See what? You fall unconscious?”

“No, silly. Unconscious beautiful. People stop fighting their bodies.” Cass looked disappointed at the lack of comprehension Steph must have been showing on her face. She stood and gestured for Steph to return to the bed (something that Steph was more than happy to do – Cass didn't seem to believe that chairs should be comfortable).

Steph decided to try something. Reaching her right hand across her face she felt round her own jawline and slowly increased the pressure. She was rewarded by Cass's pupils dilating and her breath catching (two things she had never seen before) as the world went grey. She also thought she saw something considering in Cass's eyes, and that was even more weird for Cass.

Steph awoke wearing just her bra and knickers. At the foot of the bed, Cass had Steph's right foot held lightly in her hands. The predatory and considering expression in Cass' eyes (the rest of her face being its normal unexpressive mask) made Steph aware for the first time that night that she'd chosen violet lingerie for Tim's benefit.

Cass' tongue flicked across her lips as she looked Steph up and down. Steph took a deep breath and watched as Cass let her attention be drawn by the rising and falling of Steph's chest. One leather clad finger flicked across the sole of her foot, and Steph shuddered as she felt cold run through her body. Another traced more lightly and Steph inhaled, feeling her body awash with warmth. “Want to know more?” Cass cocked her head to one side in her normal questioning gesture.

Steph gasped and nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

“It's not just the jaw.” Steph barely had time to prepare herself before Cass tapped on her foot and everything went black.

Steph opened her eyes to see Cass sitting beside her, looking down posessively. She realised she was entirely naked and instinctively tried to cover herself with her hands. Cass shook her head, gently moving Steph's hands to above her head, exposing her once again to Cass's gaze. Steph shuddered and felt her legs spread slightly.

“Points on the leg.” Cass stroked up Cass' leg. “Knee.” Cass lightly stroked behind Steph's knee before burrowing her finger in, and causing Steph to be unable to move her knee or foot. “Hip.” Cass probed and paralysed Steph's whole leg. “Now you do it.”

Steph complied, with some wiggling and guidance from Cass. She then reached out to draw Cass into a kiss.

Cass shook her head. “Teacher.” She touched her chest. “Student.” She touched Steph just over the rib cage. “Not other way.”

Steph smiled. When a monster decided it wanted you, there wasn't normally much you could do. But she'd been taken by the best monster.

Team Trials or: Why Oracle and Misfit on the same team should be a bad idea

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:13:24 GMT

Work in progress - this is a draft version.

"Why can't I go on the next mission" Charlie returned to an old argument that Oracle was getting sick of hearing. As were all the other Birds.

"Because you don't follow orders in the field, Misfit." Oracle's exasperated sigh disguised her pride. Between her training and Helena's teaching, Charlie was really getting quite good. But it wouldn't do either of them any good to tell her that quite yet. "Tell you what. If you can pass a test I've designed, I'll let you rejoin the team. It'll be fairly tough, but I think you're now ready."

"Thanks, Babs." Misfit threw her arms round Barbara's neck, which would have caused Barbara to topple over if she hadn't known Charlie well enough to be ready for her. Babs waited two seconds for Charlie to get slightly suspicious and ask the obvious next question. "What's the test."

"That would be telling." Babs smiled secretively. "Just be here at ten pm, the day after tomorrow."

Babs looked up at the clock. "You're five minutes late, Charlie. Don't worry, that's just five minutes less to prepare.

"Sorry I was in a different timezone please don't fail me what?" Tension seemed to drop off Charlie as she realised what Babs had just said. "You expected me to arrive now?"

Babs elected not to tell Charlie that she now owed Helena $50 - Babs had bet on 15 minutes. (Manhunter had bet on 30 and Zinda, ever the optimist, had bet on her being on time or early). She also wasn't going to tell Charlie that Helena had yelled at her for a good hour when she heard what the planned test was.

Instead, by way of reply, Babs handed Charlie a mobile phone, on the top of which was flashing in red text This phone will self destruct in 54:38 ... 54:37 ... 54:36 The display itself read Your mission, should you choose to accept it, will be to see how many of the following places you can visit in the space of five minutes. Each place has an item for you to bring back as proof of having visited. You will be marked on the number you succesfully collect. Bring each back here before collecting the next one, and you may take the test in any order. Charlie ticked the box marked "I accept the challenge" and clicked submit. On looking at the next screen Charlie gulped. There were 25 combinations of places and items each with a difficulty level and an importance beside them. There was no way even she could make 50 bounces in five minutes and spot all the objects and carry them out.

50:27

Barbara looked at the camera she'd got on Charlie and smiled. Charlie had already prioritised the targets (seemingly by reward rather than difficulty - good for her if she can pull it off) and was working on a story involving all the places and items in order. Babs turned back to a meeting she'd organised between Batman, Checkmate's Royals, Director Bones, Dinah, Karen, and the Suicide Squad. It would keep them all busy for the rest of the evening, giving Misfit the time to work undisturbed. And this meeting would be useful in its own right.

24:16

Babs smiled. Charlie had remembered her lessons and was taking a five minute break for a drink and biscuit before she got back to work. She was also focussing - Babs had deliberately left a number of pictures upside down to see if Charlie would notice.

0:55

Charlie really was doing well. She was just grabbing a last drink before the five minutes started and seemed far more relaxed than Babs could see she was. Evidently she had taken in a lot more from both Helena and Babs than she normally let on. Babs smiled.

0:01

The phone exploded and Misfit vanished. Babs held her breath, grateful that the Oracle avatar wouldn't show such things, and Misfit reappeared with Babs' lump of kryptonite. Well, that was the easy one. Babs smiled and continued talking, glad to confirm that Misfit couldn't be seen by security cameras when she didn't want to be.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about Ra's' lump of Gold Kryptonite." she told the masterminds she was conferencing with. "I think it just landed on my desk. I need to check, of course." Instant uproar ensued, with almost everyone talking at once.

Only Amanda Waller wasn't involved in the cross-talk. Instead she just sent Oracle a message. "Misfit, 'Amy'? I wondered what you were doing with her."

"No comment." she sent to her one-time mentor, realising that she was confirming the Wall's suspicions. "We need to talk. Soon."

"About Checkmate? Yes. But not now."

Babs glanced at the camera monitoring the table, while idly watching the chaos in the meeting. "I'll go and confirm, shall I?" she said. In truth she almost had - there were a lot of sensors in the table Charlie was leaving things on and either that was Gold kryptonite or it was a good enough fake that it would certainly hurt Superman. And it wasn't magic - her own wards had seen to that, along with damping any radiation it was producing.

The five minute alarm sounded, predictably enough, when Charlie was away. Charlie bounced in, dripping with sweat, and saw the flashing lights. The wind went out of the normally irrepressible Misfit. "I only managed twelve. Sorry, Barbara."

Have I really been that hard on her? Well it was in a good cause. She thought for a second more. Even cracks have their uses. "Come here Charlie." Barbara hugged Charlie when she bounced close. "The pass mark for that was four."

"You mean...?" As well as Bouncing, Charlie was very good at bouncing back. Her face, which had been on the edge of tears, was suddenly covered in a beaming smile.

"I'll show you what you just grabbed. In your hands are Lex Luthor's latest blueprints. Then there's Weather Wizard's Wand, Captain Cold's freeze gun, and Prometheus' dimensional belt. He didn't see you, did he?" Charlie shook her head. "The power supply for Luthor's battle suit, Kryptonite, Gold Kryptonite, and Black Kryptonite." Misfit's jaw was dropping. "Sex tapes being used to blackmail the President. There may be copies, so I might have to just release them. A copy of the Master-key for The Slab. A Father-box. I hope you didn't actualy touch it. And finally North Korea's entire weaponised Plutonium supply" said Barbara closing a lead-lined box with its own null-radiation field around it."

"But..."

"If I'd told you any of that you'd have panicked."

Misfit fainted. Babs lifted her fully into her chair and put Misfit to bed. Breakfast in bed for Misfit in the morning. And after a performance like that she'd write her a recommendation letter to the JSA if Misfit asked. Although not one to the current Titans. But in the meantime she needed to stop Checkmate from trying brute-force to grab those sex-tapes without admitting she'd had the resources to grab both the sex tapes and the gold kryptonite on the same day. Although the Wall knew her well enough that she'd probably guess.

The Golden Braid

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:38:01 GMT

Fic: The Golden Braid
Rating: PG/PG-13 - some violence
Word Count: 1066
Status: probably in dire need of a beta or rewrite

The attack was sudden, merciless, and entirely unexpected. As it needs to be when three ordinary mortals attempt to tackle a champion of the Gods without killing her. The first Cassie knew of the attack was a modified frog-crotch arrow cutting the loop on Cassie's belt and pulling the lasso of her belt to pin it to a tree. She barely had time to open her mouth before the net arrow (which had been fired first) exploded over her and also released its payload of Liquid Nitrogen, freezing Cassie.

Greta screamed as the lasso brushed over her combats (Cissie had warned her that that was a risk but they didn't want to give any more clues than they had to) but had her wits about her enough to attach her tazer to the net, powered by the multiple batteries filling the pockets of her combats. Meanwhile Cassie was hit in the back of the head by a third, blunt headed arrow which exploded with knock-out gas.

Inhaling from her scream, Greta swallowed a mouthful of the gas and passed out. “It's probably the safest way to be” thought Cissie. The arrow and the forced mouthful of gas had stunned Cassie, but it would probably only last a few seconds. The next part of this was down to Traya, and there wasn't a lot Cissie could do except offer herself as a distraction. Fortunately Traya had her part in hand, getting off her rubber-bottomed picnic mat, wrapping it round the lasso, breaking Cissie's arrow in the way it was designed to break, and running like buggery.

Cissie walked forwards, firing four U-shaped arrows to pin the net down, and one round one of Cassie's ankles. She doubted that that would delay Cassie more than a split second, but every little helps.

“Cissie, what in Hades?” Cassie was quite clearly shocked, and Cissie relaxed slightly. Maybe she and Anita were wrong, in which case she would have a lot of apologising to do. “Where's my lasso?” Maybe she wasn't – that should not be the second sentence out of someone's mouth after they've been attacked by one of their oldest friends.

“I had a bet with Anita about whether I could take you down.” Cissie was stalling for time, but everything she said was true even if Anita was the one betting that Cissie could.

“My lasso?” There was a note of panic in Cassie's voice, and Cissie's heart simultaneously rose and sank. It was worse than she thought, but that meant that they had more chance of success.

“You said you wouldn't wear it last month.” Cissie stalled for time as Cassie pulled on the net holding her. The jolt of electricity that went through her was sufficient to cause Cassie to fall back gasping. “And the month before. And the month before that.”

“So? It's mine. Tell me where it is.” Expecting the pain, Cassie's jerk of the net pulled all five of the pegs clean out of the ground. Cissie fired off another one while advancing on Cassie, hoping for another two seconds – which would give the minimum necessary time for the plan to work.

“No.”

“Then I'll just have to make you.” Cassie smiled evilly, threw the net over Greta and flicked it over her hand, turning it on continually. Cissie's arrow cutting the power cord (and grazing Greta – she'd apologise later but did notice that Greta was still breathing) was almost immediate, but gave Cassie enough time to slam into her and wrap one hand round her throat tightly, the fingers digging in to pressure points. Cassie's other hand gripped her thigh tightly, again finding pressure points and Cissie screamed. “Where. Is. It?”

“No.” said Cissie, and cursed as Cassie followed the direction of her eyes.

“Ah, over there? You can't keep things like that from a champion of Ares.”

I know thought Cissie sadly as Cassie twisted and threw her in the direction she'd looked before following at full speed (making it to the end of the trajectory before Cissie did). Cissie tucked and rolled, but this was hard enough that she'd be bruised and missing some skin from her back. Fortunately she had enough adrenaline coursing through her system that she didn't yet feel it.

In front of both of them, Traya was collapsed on the ground panting for breath. Anita was skyclad other than a serpent and sitting in the core of a pentagram. Floating above Anita's lap was a glass small stellated dodecahedron containing the lasso, and into which Anita was feeding a small serpent, glowing green.

Cassie charged at Anita and bounced, the edge of the pentagram flaring a brilliant blue. “What are you doing?” she screamed.

Cissie, not sure how much punishment the pentagram could take took the opportunity to shoot a bolas round Cassie's legs (a good archer never letting go of her bow – but she could have thrown it if she'd had to). The trailing rope of the Bolas she threw round the nearby oak tree, hoping it would hold.

“Cissie!” Cassie screamed. Cissie had a split second to roll out of the way of Cassie's charge – simultaneously relieved that Cassie wasn't actually thinking and scared for her life.

“There, Mon.” Anita triumphantly drew her blade across her palm, allowing a few drops of blood to drop on the glass container. Inside the container the green serpent seemed to be duelling with the golden lasso, which appeared itself to be alive.

Turning for another pass, the murderous light faded from Cassie's eyes.

“Cissie? What have you been...? What have I been...?” Cassie's voice reflected complete confusion.

“A geas.” Cissie certainly preferred talking to fighting. “When Ares gave you the lasso, he put two geases on it. One for you to always keep it with you, and one for anyone round it to be more the way he wanted them - the longer you've had it the deeper it's got.”

Cassie thought for a few seconds – obviously something she was now unused to doing, even if she had been very good at it. “So for the last few years I've been ... how did you put up with me?”

“Welcome back” was Cissie's only response to that question. “Anita thinks that Ares put some of himself into that lasso. If she's right, her Loa would love to use it against him.”

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:22:22 GMT

I've been without internet connection for the past ten days. And as I thought I'd have to make my next post from a public library, Adult Gotham Girls was off the agenda. So I decided to try something else - fixing Identity Crisis. There's a good story in there, but ruined by mangling the characters and forcing them into the story. But more on that later - there's just a fic involving Bruce and Zatanna aged 8 below the cut. (There will be more parts and older characters later).

“Bruce!”

“Zee!” Bruce took a small step to the side, grabbed his enthusiastic friend and swung her round him to prevent himself from being bowled over.

“You made it!” Zatanna's tone was a mix of delight and amazement.

“Of course I did. Happy birthday Zee! How does it feel to be eight?”

“Good. Sorry for missing yours.”

“It's no big. You were in Siam.”

“Laos.”

“But your card said Siam?”

“Was when I wrote it.” Zatanna's grimace made her look as if she'd swallowed a lemon. “Left for Bangkok the next day, and for Laos the next week.”

“Got any new tricks to show me?” Bruce's change of subject did the trick as Zatanna perked up again immediately.

“Sure. Loads.”

Zee lead Bruce away to her room as their parents were watching with grins on their faces.

“It's nice to watch. But did you ever visit a girls bedroom at that age, Zatara?”

“Of course not, Wayne. Times change.” Zatara paused before continuing. “And I bet that Zee will coax him into being her lovely assistant this evening. Fishnets and all.”

One Thomas Wayne's eyebrows rose. “Times change indeed. Twenty thousand, your choice?” Dr. Wayne was referring to Zatara choosing which charity the money went to if he won. “And half a dozen tricks for a performance at my fundraising gala?”

“That boy has infernally sharp eyes. But done.” They shook hands on the bet, and the conversation moved on.

Unknown to their parents, Bruce and Zatanna were lying on the floor with glasses to the floorboards. “So that's the bet.” Zee handed a wand to Bruce, which promptly drooped. “Shall we?”

Bruce looked hard at the wand, turning it round in his hands a few times and running his fingers along the length of it. He then held it, with his ring finger pressing into the wand. It straightened. “That's one.” Bruce handed the wand back to Zatanna, who held it so it remained straight. “I don't like these bets.”

“Nor me. But feeding orphans is good, and I'd get to come to Gotham if your dad won.”

Bruce looked idly round the room. His eyes widened as he saw a box of wigs. “Any of those wigs a match for your hair?”

“You mean you do the show as me?” Zatanna's eyes widened as Bruce nodded. “Better. We both do it as me. Lots of big tricks that way.”

Bruce blinked. He hadn't thought of that. “You're taller than I am” he said, his pitch rising slightly and his voice speeding up to imitate Zatanna's cadences.

“So we make your heels slightly taller than mine.” Zee stretched out alongside Bruce. “My legs are longer anyway.” Zee paused. “But there's one difference I can't hide.”

“What?” asked Bruce, his eyes wide.

“I don't have an egg behind my ear” said Zee, removing it.

“You...” Bruce spluttered and tickled Zatanna. Fortunately the egg was hard boiled and only cracked as Zatanna dropped it to defend herself.

“You mean some girls do this every day?” Bruce sat slightly self-consciously in a chair, his eyes closed as Zatanna did his eyeshadow and mascara.

“Yes. And wear higher heels than those.” Zee was surprised by how easily Bruce was moving in her spare performance shoes. She'd initially thought that he was going to have to be a body double when behind the podium or for a few escapology tricks, but it looked as if he could carry his share of the show. And he'd become a demon with card tricks since she'd shown him a couple, even being able to riffle perfectly enough to shuffle a deck back to its starting order. “It'll be nice to shock my father with magic.”

“But I didn't think you wanted anything of me.” Bruce's tone was light, but the slight grimace spoke volumes. Although she didn't think he meant it of her, Zee remembered Bruce describing his birthday party – fifty guests, of which there were only two or three (Rachel, Harvey, and possibly Tommy) he actually liked, and most of the remainder just wanted to get close to the heir to the Wayne fortune. Compared to that, having Bruce over today and a couple of her friends in the Junior Magic Circle at the weekend sounded idyllic. (She wanted to invite Bruce to that too – but he wasn't a member even if she was pretty sure he could qualify, and his parents were taking him to a pre-release screening of the Mark of Zorro that weekend).

“As if you don't want to learn my tricks.” Zatanna's actual response was light and amused. “Now open your eyes and blink a few times.” Zatanna stopped to look at the effect, and realised that she only needed a few finishing touches such as re-emphasising his cheek bones and her jaw to make the resemblance more than passable. And the wig should cover a multitude of sins.

“But Zee. There's something wrong with your tights.” Bruce placed one hand on her leg and pulled out a string of flags, seeming to come from along the strings of her fishnets. Zee blinked – she'd forgotten she'd left those flags up the sleeve to that jacket.

“Not bad. It's easier if you pull things out of someone's ear because they can't see it clearly that way.” She then smiled. “I'll have to remember about pulling along the fishnets, thanks.” Bruce's genuine smiles were as dazzling as they were rare.

Bruce suddenly pouted. “I forgot to sound like you. Sorry, Zee.”

“No problem, 'Bee'.” And that pout was her rather than him. “Do anything too wrong and I'll be careless when I saw you in half.” Bruce cringed, his eyes twinkling to show he didn't take the threat seriously.

“This'll be fun.” Bruce grinned. “How long”

“... until they figure it out, Bee?” Zatanna startled herself slightly. She almost never interrupted Bruce, but seemingly Bee was another matter. “The splitter, I hope.”

“I'll be surprised if they don't. That one needs both of us. But I open the show.”

“And so they won't expect you. No reason for them to look ...”

“... if it behaves as they expect.” Bruce finished the adage. “And then your set of close in tricks is to reassure them that you are you and I'm just doing the lighting.”

“And the behind the scenes trickery.” Zee settled the wig onto Bruce's head and attached it. “Come with me.” She then directed Bruce to stand one side of a one-way mirror, and herself the other, the lights such that they could both see Bruce but not her. “Good.” Zee did her best to match Bruce's pose before reversing the transparency. “See any difference?”

By way of response, Bruce adjusted some of the curls on his black wig. “Why am I doing this again?”

“Starving orphans, me in Gotham, their stupid bet.” Zee smiled. “Remember to walk as if on a rail and heel-toe. And when you stop, rest on one hip. Now which tricks do you want to practice?” In truth, most of Bruce's tricks were either gimmicks, tricks he already knew, or fairly easy ones with a second person to provide unlimited time.

Other than being locked in an exceedingly cramped wooden box,. Bruce felt on top of the world. His card tricks had all worked, he'd caught Zatara with the shell game (which both he and Zee had worried would rumble them – his tells were different from hers so she could never pull it on her father), and Zatara was looking increasingly bemused as “Zatanna” shaved seconds off his best escapology times with equipment he knew (actually Zee needed about an extra thirty seconds each time and Bruce needed a further couple of minutes). His father was just impressed by the tricks working at all. The only slight fly in the ointment was Alfred, who'd rumbled him before he had even opened his mouth to start the performance, but Alfred's eyes dancing and his upper lip stiffening was the only sign he'd given of that.

“And many magicians have sawn their beautiful assistants in half.” Zatanna was about to commence the final trick. “But now for the first time ever, I'm going to cut myself in half. Possibly also the last time ever.” The audience laughter was more to show willing than anything else, Bruce thought. But Zee said that was nothing to worry about as three people wasn't a real audience. Bruce heard the box lid open above him and Zee stretching out, which was his cue to stick his feet out of the bottom of the box at the height hers would be.

Zee then curled herself into the top half of the box, and let the chopper go to an audible gasp from Bruce's father as his feet went limp.

“As you can see, my feet have stopped moving. Now I just need to pull myself together.”

With that, Bruce's half of the box slid off the trestle base first to the floor, and Bruce started to waddle off. A low whistle sounded from Zatara as he realised at long last the source of his confusion.

“Come back!” Zee swung her box to the floor, and started chasing him by walking on her hands. Unfortunately Bruce, being unable to see where he was going, tangled himself in the exit curtain and tripped over. And this unsettled Zee enough that she lost her precarious balance and fell over with a resounding crash, forcing her to improvise rather than chase her legs offstage.

“Fortunately I wasn't stupid enough to cut myself in half in an ordinary box.” Zee had a cover prepared for if this complex trick went wrong. “This is a magic box, made from brambles and bound with the blood of earthworms and starfish.” (In the audience Zatara whispered 'Less is more', thinking her patter was badly prepared rather than a hasty improvisation.) Slowly Zatanna's feet started poking out of the bottom of her box, and Bruce pushed the inner pannel into the door allowing room for him to put his head through the hole in his box.

Zatanna opened her box and stepped out gingerly. Seeing that Bruce's box was still in sight and that he was having difficulty getting his arms through the holes, she continued to improvise. “Unfortunately, like a bramble, both halves can become a full plant.” She walked over to Bruce's box and opened it, helping him out. “And with that I leave you while we sort ourselves out.” She turned and lead Bruce in a bow to the audience, with both parents giving a spontaneous standing ovation.

As soon as he was offstage, Bruce grabbed Zatanna and swung her round in a hug. “That was fun! Is tricking people why you do magic?”

Alfred knocked on the door and came in. “Dinner is in five minutes. And both Zatanna's are expected.”

“But that doesn't give time for...” Zatanna's protest was slightly irate.

“Don't worry, Bruce.” Bruce was faster on the uptake, realising that this was both a challenge and a punishment while Zee was still outraged on his behalf. “Just keep pretending to be me and it'll be fine.”

“If that's all right with you, sir.” Alfred gave Zatanna a broad wink.

Zatanna slowed and deepened her voice slightly. “I suppose so, Alfred.”

“Two Zatanna's is probably best, Master Zee.” Alfred left the room with a smile.

A seed flowers part 1 - Adult Gotham Girls pt 2

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:16:36 GMT

Damnit! I've got a case of writer's block on this story. It's in three sections and the second section just isn't working. Not sure whether to just post the third part, skip to the next story, or work on another story (either All Warfare is Based on Deception or a short series about what happens when someone intelligent gets a GL ring - pairing: Oracle/Mogo). And also whether to dip into the non-pornographic Barbara Gordon/Katarina Armstrong (Spy Smasher) interlude before or after finishing the main series.

Anyway, normal warnings (porn beneath)

Batgirl had warned the Dynamic Duo that Harley and Ivy could be trouble. But Robin had laughed at her, and Batman had just raised one eyebrow. She supposed they didn't have the advantage of having studied the security tapes of her last meeting with Harley and Ivy (or even of knowing that that tape existed). Instead they'd assumed that the two girls were not a threat and gone charging in, with the result that Batman was cocooned in the Venus mantrap and Robin was giftwrapped and wearing lipstick and blusher. And neither had their gloves or utility belt. Much as Batgirl wanted to leave them to face the consequences she supposed she ought to try to rescue them.

She landed silently in the park, but by the way the trees on the path towards Batman and Robin closed and another path opened for her she knew she wasn't unobserved. Not that she expected to be when challenging Ivy on her own turf, but it was worth a try. She decided to follow the new path as Ivy seldom attacked in the park unless someone attacked her first.

After she'd taken steps the gap closed behind her, meaning that the only direction she could easily go was deeper into the park. Vines overhung this dark path, reaching down to her waist. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but as she brushed through them they seemed to cling slightly to her cowl, her hair, and her breasts. Either way, Ivy was showing Batgirl that she was in her territory now. But if Ivy hadn't wanted her there, Batgirl would have had a much harder time getting in. And she didn't see much of a choice.

Batgirl continued brushing through and being fondled by the vines until she saw light shining through a small gap at the end of the path. She kept walking at her steady pace until she was a step away from the gap and, seeing it was entirely surrounded by vines dived through. They closed to trap her as she landed on the far side, rolling to her feet.

“Ah, Batgirl.” Ivy was lying back in what looked like a leafy hammock. “Come in, we've been expecting you.”

Harley was pacing about and pouting. “I thought the vines were going to catch her, Red.”

“Hush.” Ivy's smile reminded Batgirl of a shark. “It's more fun if she either struggles or gives herself to us.” Ivy turned back to Batgirl, her gaze assessing. “I suppose you're here for the Dynamic Duo. And what do you have that could convince me to let them go?”

Batgirl had been expecting the question. Pulling a bottle from her belt she held it up and unscrewed the cap. “This. It kills a lot of plants, can make large parts of the earth uninhabitable, and is a major cause of acid rain.”

Ivy sneered. “You seek to threaten me. In my garden? I should make you drink that.”

“You wouldn't be fast enough.” Batgirl stepped further into the garden, and turned to keep an eye on the pacing Harley. “And you know we'll win eventually.”

Harley circled, trying to force Batgirl to leave either Harley or Ivy in her blind spot, or to get too near one of the plants. “We were planning a trade. You for them.”

Batgirl stopped suddenly, almost losing the game of Cat Chess. Fortunately Ivy interrupted her train of thought. “You weren't meant to tell her that yet, Harl. I wanted to make her squirm some more.” Ivy licked her lips.

As if knowing they'd set this up wasn't making her squirm slightly. But she was outnumbered and in Ivy's lair. “What do you want from me?”

“A maid?” Ivy answered, eyeing Batgirl. “A pet? A weekend?”

Batgirl's breath caught. She'd thought that their previous meeting had just been flirting to distract her. After all, she'd seen it enough times from Catwoman to Robin – and she was certain that Selina was only interested in Batman. Her mind flashed back to Harley's soaked white babydoll, and her amused smile. She wasn't sure that she wanted this to go further. She wasn't sure that she didn't. And she wasn't sure she could see any other way of rescuing the boys that didn't involve absolutely destroying the place. So she decided to stall for time. “You'll let me go after the weekend and them go now?”

Something told her that Harley was trying to pounce in her moment of indecision. She dropped and rolled, reaching out with her arm and sending the charging Harley flying into one of the nests of vines Harley had been manoeuvring her towards. “Fool me once...” she said quietly, watching the obviously waiting vines grab Harley and wrap her up, leaving only her eyes peeking out. She wondered if the bat-boys realised why she'd been practising defending herself from that sort of attack. And whether Harley realised that she could think more clearly after the sudden movement.

“Yes.” Ivy licked her lips seductively. “Obey me for the next fifteen minutes, and after that you can try and escape. You'll be punished for it.” Ivy smiled and Batgirl shuddered. “Or you can try to rescue the bat-brats.” The trees loomed slightly nearer and the garden got slightly darker. She smiled more broadly. “Of course you only have my say so that I'll let any of you go when I promise to.”

The vines round Harley's breasts and hips started to part, and Batgirl could see erect nipples pushing against the front of Harley's costume, and Harley rocking against the vine that pressed tightly from between her legs from behind her up to her navel. The only part of Harley's face visible were her blood red lips, opened in an inviting circle.

Batgirl unconsciously licked her lips. But there was now no way out of the garden, and Ivy had obviously been setting this up for a while. And realised that she'd already answered Ivy with her previous statement. “Deal.” she said, realising she had little choice. “And Ivy,” Batgirl gulped down the bottle she'd threatened her with. “It was only water.”

She was rewarded with a “Naughty girl!” from Ivy, and in the nest of vines Harley collapsed with the giggles, Harley's sense of humour overriding her arousal. Batgirl thought it prudent not to tell Ivy that one of the other pouches on her belt had the weedkiller.

“Fifteen minutes. Now Strip. Everything but your mask.” Batgirl decided to play for time. She thought she had a much better chance of getting out of this (even if she wasn't sure if she wanted to) if she was unbound after the fifteen minutes, so decided to give her captors a show by attempting a slow striptease.

Batgirl took her gloves, boots, and belt off and placed them in a neat pile. She then looked round for something to hide behind as she took the costume off, but finding none she realised that this was part of their play. So she decided to try to give them a show, both for their benefit and to waste time. She turned her back to them, bending over and flipping her hair up as she reached for the zip by the back of her neck. She then straightened undid it slowly down to her waist, letting it open across her shoulders.

Turning back to face them, the expressions of naked lust on their faces caused her to both blush furiously and to feel even more aroused. She slowly slipped her right arm out of the costume, allowing it to fall forwards as she did so, but barely give them a glimpse of the nipple. (At least so she hoped – as a Bat, of course she had worked out the theory, but had never actually tried this before).

She then turned slowly to the right as she took her left arm out, deliberately not quite giving them sight of either breast, before letting her costume fall forward as she bent forwards to take it down over her hips and slide it slowly down her legs (the underwear coming with it giving the illusion that she hadn't been wearing any). A glance between her legs showed that her audience was watching her ass in rapt fascination. Sliding her costume down to her ankles, she tried lifting one foot to step out – and crashed over sideways. Maybe she'd have to rethink that part, but she kicked both feet out easily from her position on her side.

“Good pet.” Ivy smiled. “Now stand up, close your eyes, and let Harley dress you.”

Batgirl stood up and closed her eyes. She heard footsteps coming towards her, then felt her legs being pulled forward, so she stepped into a thong – which was then pulled up her legs and into place. She then felt a belt being clipped round her, before a dress was placed over her arms and then pulled into position. She then felt it being tightened slightly from a ribbon at the back for a better fit (it seemed to be enhancing her cleavage).

Next, she was forced to balance on one leg as Harley very gently unrolled stockings up her legs. The caress as Harley rolled the stockings up her legs caused them to tingle. She moaned as Harley clipped on the suspender belt, and again as Harley wrapped something round her head, making it very clear to her how she was dressed.

“Good pet. Now crawl over here and kiss my boots.”

Her face flaming, Batgirl complied, not looking at Ivy. At the third kiss, she felt vines wrap round her wrists and ankles. Suddenly she was dragged up into the air, and landed spreadeagled over a log and held tightly by the vines. “Fifteen minutes up, Batgirl.” Batgirl cursed – her count made it fourteen and a half minutes. “Do you think she deserves to be punished for that wanton display, Harley.”

“Oh yes. And rewarded.” Harley stalked over to Batgirl and flipped her skirt up. Batgirl moaned, watching over her shoulder as Harley raised her arm. “Your reward is that the Batboys are now free to go with a laxative – we don't want them spoiling our fun.”

A vine in front of Batgirl's face developed a bulbous blue pear-shaped fruit. It then tapped on her mouth. Realising what was expected, Batgirl opened her mouth, took the bulbous fruit between her lips, and sucked, caressing it with her tongue. A further vine looped round Batgirl's neck, enhancing her sense of helplessness.

Ivy moaned. “Suck all the juice down, Batgirl” she said. “It'll make you immune to my poison touch. And other poisons.”

Harley brought her hand down lightly, and Batgirl raised her ass, hoping the next blow would be harder. The wood under her sex raised slightly, meaning that Harley's next blow would force her hard against it. The only thing stopping her moaning was the fruit in her mouth she was busily sucking down. Seeing the effects her ministrations on the fruit were having on Ivy, she started bobbing her head along the fruit and redoubled her efforts to suck out all the tangy interior. Ivy's moaning and writhing made it very clear that she was no longer in control of things, but Batgirl was surprised that Ivy wan't using her hands.

Batgirl barely felt Harley's smacks, intent as she was on Ivy. But she could feel the fruit deflate and realised that it would run out of pith before she could finish the job. So she did the only thing she could think of, and sucked the empty skin of the fruit right off the vine.

Ivy's orgasm was ear-splitting but definitely not a scream of pain, and Batgirl felt the vines round her neck, wrists, and ankles tighten hard, causing her to see spots. Harley brought her hand down hard, causing Batgirl to arch as her pelvis was thrown into the log below her.

“My turn.” Harley's ruby-red smile caused Batgirl to shudder as her knickers were pulled down to her stockings. Harley showed Batgirl the broad, flat paddle she was going to use on her already warm bottom, and gave Batgirl a couple of seconds to feel her vulnerability, with her rump presented, the bottom of her dress tucked up into the apron and her knickers down round her thighs.

*smack* Batgirl arched as Harley said “That's for Arkham.”

*smack* “That's for the Boy Blunder”

*Smack* “That's for Batman.” Batgirl bit her lip to avoid crying out.

*Smack!* “That's for keeping Ivy without plants.”

*Smack!* “That's for Mr. J's straightjacket.”

Batgirl heard Ivy's gasp and took her best chance so far. Using Ivy's moment of stunned horror, Batgirl yanked her feet out of the vine's grip, and gave Harley a two-footed mule kick in the chest. She then unwound her hands, pulled on one of the overhanging vines and used its snap and entwine reaction to have herself pulled high into the treetops, letting go before it could entangle her.

Batgirl grabbed for another vine, again using its entangle reflex to propel her forward and towards one of the sides of the park. The world seemed to sway around her even more than she'd expect under the circumstances.

“Batgirl!” Ivy's shout seemed genuinely scared. “You're going to collapse. That nectar takes time to work.”

Batgirl again grabbed for a vine, but Ivy seemed to have turned their reflexes off. So she tried to use her momentum to swing with it, and only barely grasped the next one. As the world span she swung on, and fell to the ground as everything went black.

Note: for those of you on my flist who saw the preview, the story hasn't changed much but the changes there have been are, I think a significant improvement.

Lipstick and flowers

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:05:09 GMT

First in the Adult Gotham Girls series (of which Parcel Passing Time is the fifth

Disclaimer: DC's, not mine. Please don't sue.

*******************************
Batgirl crept along the rooftop, staying out of sight from the ground. Fortunately Arkham's more homicidal maniacs were inside, or Batman would never have sent her on this mission solo while he chased Catwoman (or possibly she chased him – Batgirl was never sure, but knew he wouldn't want company). Robin was furious to be left out, but his SATs were tomorrow and Batman had said that barring an emergency he was to at least get a good night's sleep. And there was a report of a green-skinned redhead leading Jack Drake into Gotham's largest mall. And if Ivy was doing something daft like that, she almost certainly had Harley with her – which made them both more than twice as tricky and much less dangerous to bystanders.

Wanting to know what was happening, Batgirl slipped in to the mall through a roof, and crept into the security office. Seemingly the bored security guard was trying to train the cameras for shots down Harley's cleavage, which suited Batgirl. She gathered two things from the cameras. Firstly that Jack Drake was obviously controlled (it wasn't the first time Harley and Ivy had kidnapped a billionaire for a spending spree). Secondly roughly where they were.

Batgirl crept out of the security office, unseen by the distracted guard (who would probably have been more embarrassed to have spotted her than she would have been to be spotted). She then pulled herself back into the vents, and crawled towards where she knew the twisted twosome to be.

After a few minutes she was in what she thought was the right area and heard voices below her.

“That looks good, Red.” Harley's light soprano. “You think Mr. Duck will buy it for you?”

“Course he will.” Ivy's smooth alto. “Won't you Jackie? Just nod, there's a good boy.”

Batgirl had heard enough. Kicking the grate open, she jumped down and landed on the balls of her feet. “Put the billionaire down and give yourselves up and no one will get hurt.” Over the top dialogue was fun.

“Batgirl!” Harley's tone had a distinct pout to it. “Always you Bats come to ruin my fun.”

Batgirl looked at Harley and paused. She'd landed in the lingerie section and Harley was wearing a very sheer white babydoll over high cut white knickers, which emphasised the length of her legs. Her hair was loose, making a halo round her face, and she looked to Batgirl like a fallen angel with her erect nipples pushing against the front of the babydoll.

“Don't worry Harl.” Batgirl turned to see Ivy in a dark green teddy, offsetting her hair. It was clear from the fabric that Ivy was a natural redhead. “We said we needed a maid.” On sheer reflex, Batgirl caught the hangar of the tiny black and white dress Ivy threw at her. She neither noticed the decorative plants growing odd blooms nor Harley running barefoot straight at her while she was distracted.

Batgirl did, however, feel Harley leap on to her, Harley's legs locking round her waist and her momentum bowling Batgirl over and onto her front. Batgirl twisted over and onto her back, her back brushing Harley's breasts in passing. Harley grabbed and pinned Batgirl's wrists, her legs clamping round Batgirl's hips. Batgirl looked up at Harley, both of them panting slightly, and Batgirl tasting cinnamon, honeysuckle, and sandalwood in the air. Harley leant forwards, her breasts almost brushing Batgirl's, and Batgirl arched to meet her as she felt Harley's breath across her face.

Batgirl heard high heels tapping as Ivy walked towards her, now dressed and with lipstick in her hand. “Well done, Harl. We've got our maid.” Ivy took the lid off the lipstick and Batgirl twisted, throwing Harley into her. She then rolled after the lipstick, scooping it up, putting the lid back on, and putting it in her utility belt.

“My mind-control lipstick!” Seemingly Ivy wasn't happy, not that Batgirl minded. “Do you have any idea how hard that was to make? Grab the bitch!” Batgirl felt a couple of hands on her shoulders, twisted out of Jack's grasp, and knocked him out with a nerve strike. She might not be fast enough or accurate enough to do that to someone she was fighting, but a mind controlled minion was another matter. Unfortunately this again left enough time for Harley to pounce her, and Batgirl cursed Harl's bare feet as it made her much harder to hear.

Harley wasn't making the same mistake twice, and Batgirl's hands were behind her back and in batcuffs as she was pushed directly over one of the ornamental plantpots, her head in a bright pink flower she didn't recognise. Batgirl gasped, getting a strong taste of honeysuckle and cinnamon as Harley smacked her hard, and then moaned and clamped her legs together as Harley's hand explored between them.

Sex pollen! At last she recognised the taste and smell. And her head was right in one of the flowers. She could barely see straight or stand up. But she still had a chance. Slipping her hand out of the batcuff (which was part of the idea – villains often thought it poetic justice to use their own cuffs on the Batclan), she threw a Batarang straight at the fire alarm, her eyes then closing in arousal rather than tracking it to its target.

To the relief of what little of her could still think, she was drenched as the sprinkler system turned on. She rolled away from both Harley and the dangerous plant (almost breaking Harley's wrist in the process), and took deep breaths of the now damp air, trying to get the pollen out of her lungs. A chance look back at Harley didn't help matters. She was now utterly drenched, her already thin babydoll clinging transparently to every curve of her. Batgirl caught her breath as Harley walked slowly towards her, and threw a batarang at Ivy (who wasn't as stealthy in heels as she thought she was). Abandoning any stealth, but not any attempt at surprise, Harley drew Batgirl in for a deep kiss and roamed her hands over Batgirl's body.

Batgirl deepened the kiss and bent Harley slightly backwards, being rewarded by a moan, which Batgirl shared as Harley squeezed her breasts. She then straightened Harley and caught her wrists, cuffing them behind her back while continuing the kiss. She finally broke the kiss and ran one finger slowly downwards from Harley's chin, causing Harley to moan and collapse to her knees.

One down, one to go thought Batgirl, much as she wanted to continue with Harley. Ivy, however, would not be hard to subdue as she was nowhere near her beloved plants and so both villainesses could safely be left for the police (and couldn't safely be left near her with all the pollen she'd inhaled).

Batgirl had arrived arrived home about half an hour before her adopted father, and made herself a cup of cocoa before running herself a hot bath to relax in. (Her costume had been put in the normal dead-drop for potentially hazardous contamination).

As she was relaxing in a deep bubble bath, her mind was replaying the events of earlier and wondering quite how much was the pollen and how much was her desires. Certainly she couldn't get the picture of the soaked Harley out of her head. She also wondered what would have happened if Ivy had had a chance to kiss her. Her hand drifted between her legs as she wondered what would have happened if Ivy had kissed her. Certainly that french maid's outfit had looked pretty, and she moaned at the thought of Ivy making her wear it. And at the thought of Harley flipping that skirt up with her cheeky grin. But that wasn't something she should have wanted. Was it?

She took a deep breath to try to steady herself, and realised what her nose had been telling her all along. When Harley had thrown her into that plant her hair had been completely covered in sex pollen. Quickly she dived under the surface of her bath to try and wash it out. Then she stood up, covered in bubbles, pulled the plug out of the bath, and turned on the shower to wash all the pollen out of her hair.

She tried desperately to think of someone she should fancy rather than either of the villainesses. But none of the heroes were her age, and all the good ones were either taken or children like Dick. Or like Bruce they were both too dedicated and a bit too weird. Suddenly she realised why Bruce had his “relationship” with Selina. The best she thought she could do was a policeman. And her dad had been trying to throw her at Jason Bard.

If Batgirl had been paying attention, she'd have heard her adopted father take Sarah Essen on the kitchen table, both of them overwhelmed by the residue of sex pollen she'd left behind.

Bats, Witches, and Pumpkins Prologue

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 22:15:43 GMT

Disclaimer: If you recognise the characters, they probably aren't mine.
Because everyone who goes anywhere near Buffy fanfic should write a Halloween fic. And because I wanted an excuse for Adam West's Robin to meet modern-day Batgirl.

Buffy looked down and pouted. Willow had been right when she said the reason she didn't play pool was that she was too good. Just two reds left on the table, and the white nestled in very close behind one of them, with the other blocking almost all possible routes for the white that weren't straight into the pocket. It had been a superb hustle and she didn't think that Steve Davis would stand a chance of getting out of that. But Steve Davis wasn't the Slayer.

Buffy bent down and almost negligently hit the ball off-centre. It screwed in a tight arc off the far lip of the corner pocket, eating most of the spin, and then lost still more bouncing off the near lip of the corner pocket, and curled gently, missing the red that was blocking her in by a hair's breadth. It then continued to curl gently, looking as if it was going to go in to the centre pocket before bouncing off the lip and into one of the yellows. This yellow ricocheted into another yellow potting it. She looked at Willow and grinned. “That was great. But I'm super.”

She then turned back to the table and cleaned up, leaving Willow looking impressed and Xander looking absolutely shocked that someone had beaten Willow. She'd never been hustled before by being told precisely how good someone was, but it had almost worked. “Pay up, guys. Batgirl and Robin tomorrow night.” She was looking forward to both seeing Xander in Robin's manties, and her redheaded friend dressed as Batgirl.

“Lady of Buffdom, Duchess of Buffonia, I am in awe! I completely renounce spandex!”

“Which is why you are wearing it. Nice pixie boots, Xander.” Buffy grinned and Xander blushed as he came through the open door. “Are you ready yet, Willow?” she called.

“Just a second.” Buffy heard the door upstairs opening. “Xander, look at thi...” Buffy looked up at a black-haired apparition clad head to toe in black, without even a visible face. “That's not Batgirl, Willow.”

“Oh yes it is.” Willow's voice was slightly muted, but Buffy could swear that Willow was grinning behind her mask as she threw something at Buffy. Buffy caught the comic book “It's the latest one and the one you are thinking about hasn't been Batgirl for more than ten years since she was shot by the Joker. I got you a copy of the latest issue of Batgirl to prove it.”

Xander ostentatiously looked at the clock in the hallway. “Holy hair washing, girls. Is that the time? We've got some imps to collect.” Buffy grinned – Xander was clearly getting into the spirit of his costume.

Birds of Prey 114 Remix

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:12:19 GMT

Disclaimer: DC Comics own the Birds. I wish Gail Simone was still writing them - I wouldn't feel the need to rewrite the most recent issue that way.

“Helena, Duck!”

Helena stepped to the side and twisted, grabbing the fist that was aimed at her head and sending its owner flying. “Thanks, Zinda.” Helena was impressed – Zinda was holding her own against two marines and a SEAL, and still had the time to look out for her. Helena, meanwhile, was only just holding her own against two SEALs (fortunately one would be digging his way out from under the marine she had just thrown) and would be pretty bruised in the morning. Helena lashed out, knocking out her last SEAL and looked round.

Things seemed to be settling down – someone had helped Zinda out. “Nice fighting there, Missy.” Helena turned round to hear the barman. “One on the house?”

Helena blinked. “You mean we're not being thrown out?”

Zinda laughed and seemed to be helping one of her erstwhile opponents to his feet. “People come here because they want a fight. I thought you needed one.” Helena finally realised why the centre of the bar was completely open space and all the stools and tables were bolted to the floor.

“Thanks.” Helena realised she felt better than she had in weeks. “Vodka and coke please.” She then tossed the barkeeper her card. “Next round's on me.” She could probably buy the bar with Oracle's card without trouble.

Zinda drew her broad-shouldered blonde rescuer over to Helena. “Nice moves.” he said. “Who taught you?”

Helena decided to tell part of the truth. “Richard Dragon.” She was rewarded by seeing Zinda's friend's jaw drop and hearing the barkeeper whistle.

"That'll make the unarmed instructor at Quantico feel better." Zinda's partner nodded to one of the people Helena had laid out.

“Kal.” Barbara smirked as Superman turned round, surprised.

“I didn't hear...” Superman barely got started before he was interrupted.

“You think that I don't have bat-tech?” Babs got to the point. “Two weeks ago. Intergang. Deadman switch you never saw. I jammed it. Misfit!” Babs touched a button on her wheelchair.

Misfit teleported into the room, grinning shyly and holding out something electrical with half a dozen wires sticking out of it.

“This. Yesterday. You'd have spent twenty minutes beating up the robot it was powering and wrecking Metropolis. Charlie teleported in and removed the power core in three seconds.”

“Oracle...” Superman tried to speak again, but Babs overrode him.

“My team has tackled Prometheus. Without powers.” Barbara was kind enough not to point out that it was something Superman had never successfully done, but from his expression he got the point. “My team has your back.” Barbara paused slightly.

“Do not take your anger out on us because you weren't there.” Barbara turned and started to wheel herself out. Over her shoulder she then said “And Kal? Thanks for not telling Ollie that it was my satellite and not his scream that sent you to rescue Connor.”

“No problem.” Clark paused and recovered himself. “Charlie, thanks for the intercept.” Clark was rewarded with a huge blush, and Misfit didn't stop squeeing for the next two days.

As Barbara was rolling down the corridor to the lift she heard a voice she recognised. “That's what you say to Superman? I am so in.” Barbara wheeled round to see Black Alice had appeared behind her.

The other side of the door, Clark smiled. Oracle had just used his being unfair to recruit the most powerful unaligned meta on the planet and to boost the confidence of the most vulnerable member of her team. He also relaxed slightly. For some reason he'd been worried that an unforseeable situtation getting out of control would end up pitting super against super and friends who'd known each other for years against each other. But that was just silly to worry about, wasn't it?

All war is based on deception Prolog and Pt 1

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 01:30:29 GMT

Disclaimer: Birds of Prey (and supporting cast) belong to DC Comics. Buffy characters belong to Joss Wheedon and Mutant Enemy. Don't sue please.

Timeline: Should be obvious. Next part will be three months later.

Almost irrelevant changes to DC cannon: the Robin suit in the case in the Batcave belongs to Stephanie, not Jason. Leslie tried to save Spoiler in War Games and failed before leaving Gotham.

Any other mistakes I make with cannon are consequences of Superboy punching the time stream.

Timeline: Chosen (BTVS)/The Battle for Metropolis (DC)

Could I have a volunteer to beta for me please?

************************************************

Oracle looked up in irritation at the touch in her mind. She opened her communicator to the most likely suspect. "J'onn. Was that you?"

"No, Oracle." replied the Martian Manhunter, a touch of strain in his voice.

Oracle then heard the complete message. Her immediate reaction was "Damnit! I don't have time for strength. I'm fighting to save the world here."

That didn't stop Oracle being flooded with power. "Thanks." Oracle smiled. "Now go away and let me fight this battle."

With that, Oracle returned her attention to her computer and coordinating the Battle for Metropolis, her newfound strength irrelevant.

***********************************************

"You want me to what?" Huntress was startled. "Well, I suppose that's why I'm wearing this." Huntress gestured at her suit, hardly her normal Birds of Prey attire.

"Infiltration of a possible cult." Oracle barely looked up from her computer. "I'm having one last go at breaking into their systems before sending you in."

Huntress paced round the plane, taking care not to trip over any of the trailing computer cables. "But infiltration of an English girl's public school? And can't the all-seeing Oracle break school security?"

"Private school. In England they're called public schools. Long story. And no. But Salix can't break mine either." Oracle looked somewhat chagrined by her admission. "But an English girl's school shouldn't be that bad."

Zinda poked her head round the cabin door. "St. Trinian's was one too."

Huntress smirked. She also realised that no one who didn't know Oracle would even have spotted the hesitation as Oracle looked up St. Trinian's. Huntress continued "St. Trinian's was fictional, Zinda."

"Hopefully this place won't be like that." Oracle wasn't appearing to even look at her screens. "Your briefing's to your right, Huntress. And St. Trinians was only fictionalised." Huntress might not always like Oracle, but there were reasons she was good to work for her.

The printer nearest to Huntress printed a couple of pages, which Huntress picked up and scanned, commenting out loud. "Jenny Calendar Memorial Academy? Strong emphasis on athletics and teaching the girls to defend themselves? Sounds good. Girls only? Invitation only? No fees? Something's odd."

"That's not the oddest thing" Oracle said "Every single member of the board was not just from Sunnydale but on the last bus out."

"You don't think it wasn't Superboy Prime or the Society?" The fate of Sunnydale was a common subject for idle speculation, but recent events had taken their toll on the capes, and no one really knew where to start.

"Go and find out. And what's going on in that school. For some reason, spy satellites can't see into the grounds properly. Or all they see is a rotating set of images. Good..."

"... But not quite good enough." Huntress grinned.

"One more thing, Huntress. Take that costume off. If I can spot it, they might."

Huntress glared. "Aye, aye Capt'n."

Huntress rode the last 20 miles to the academy, having driven her bike out of the back of Aerie One while it was still moving. She grinned at the memory of Oracle's cry of "Helena!", but loved the speed rush. She also loved the challenge of racing the bike up winding and tree-lined roads, and the sight of the lush green fields to either side.

When she got within a couple of miles of the school, two other bikes appeared and flanked her. Both were ridden by young girls, and based on the way they were matching her turns and speed they both had superb reflexes. But neither of them seemed to mean ill other than the challenge, and although her bike was the best of the three (although she suspected that the old one was actually blueprinted), she couldn't get more out of it without a danger of a crash. But this was fun.

The three bikes rode up to the school, although it looked to Helena more like a mansion. Helena turned into what looked like the bike parking lot and again the two girls turned beside her. The taller one on the apparently old bike dismounted and took off her helmet, revealing long brown hair.

"Miss Bertolini?" Helena nodded. "I'm Dawn Summers. This way please."

Helena followed Dawn through the wide front doors and looked round the entrance hallway. It looked almost as she'd expected, with a large glass chandelier in the centre of the hallway, and polished floors and decorated walls. However, instead of the pictures she was expecting, the entrance way was covered in arms and shields – and all the weapons she could see were sharp, well maintained, and easily removable from the wall. But Dawn's eyes looked too bright for a cult, even if she could see a shadow of pain in them.

Dawn turned round and looked at Helena. "Your first interview is sparring with me. This way please."

Helena spluttered. It was quite obvious that these people, whoever they were, wanted to keep her off balance for the interviews, and she mentally thanked the Bat for making sure that there wasn't much she couldn't cope with. She watched Dawn more carefully, and realised that she moved like a dancer rather than a martial artist. But then so did Nightwing, and he wasn't someone to take lightly – and there wasn't too much difference anyway.

Dawn turned down the corridor, again wood furnished and decorated with distinctly utilitarian weapons, and into a small dojo. The only thing Helena found odd about the corridor, other than the decorations, was the complete absence of breakable objects. But it registered on Huntress that Oracle should have checked in by now.

"Coat and shoes off" said Dawn, proceeding to leave hers on a chair. Dawn was now dressed in a loose white t-shirt and riding leathers – the padding probably being useful for sparring. "I'm one of the weakest fighters here and you're a student of Richard Dragon's. Three falls out of five or we think you've lied to us."

Dawn waited for Helena to join her on the mat then bowed. After Helena returned the bow, Dawn started stepping almost in an "n" shape before dropping onto her hands for a kick at Helena's knees.

Huntress cartwheeled over and mentally blessed Dick for insisting on teaching her Capoeira. Although she was far from an expert in it, it was somewhat unusual if you weren't prepared. She landed on her feet and launched a slow crescent kick at where Dawn's head was.

Dawn, of course wasn't there. "You know Capoeira then?" Dawn grinned, pivoting on one foot. "It's one of the few they'll fully teach me because it's a dance and a game." Dawn's leg swept towards Huntress's ankles, and Huntress jumped.

"It's not my favourite, but yes." Huntress and Dawn continued to trade telegraphed blows, and Dawn kept chattering. After a couple of minutes, Dawn paused and offered cupped hands to Huntress. Knowing what that meant, Huntress stepped forward and put one foot into Dawn's hands and pushed off for a double back sumersault. She twisted and leaned back on landing to let Dawn's spin kick pass within inches of her head, and used the way she was off balance to set up a snap kick touching Dawn lightly on the spine.

"Point" said Dawn, grinning and already drenched with sweat.

If Dawn really was the weakest of the fighters, as she seemed to be saying, Helena was impressed – she'd faced black belts who were slower, less graceful, and less resourceful. Still, you couldn't hang around Gotham without picking a few things up, and Helena had won four out of the five points. But Dawn had barely given her time to catch her breath before showing her into the interview room and scampering off to have a much-needed shower.

Behind the desk were four of the six people Oracle had briefed her on. Robin Wood, the headmaster of the school. Dark skinned, athletic build, and holder of at least three black belts. Dressed in a fairly normal dark suit. Also, despite being the headmaster, the outsider of the group. Rupert Giles, the senior member of the group, and probably the most dangerous one. Deputy Head and school librarian, and probably the backer.

Finally the two kids, Willow Rosenberg and Alexander Harris. The first was a fairly shy looking redhead who was almost certainly Salix ("That's not the name she uses now, but no hacker should ever use a translation of their name"). But for all the shyness, Helena could see the watchfulness in the eyes, and the scars, and realised that she was not harmless. Especially if she could keep Oracle out of her systems (and where was Oracle anyway?). As for Alexander, he was known not to the the brightest of the group, but certainly shouldn't be overlooked – particularly as Oracle had given her a last minute warning that "Xander" Harris (and Willow Rosenberg and Rupert Giles for that matter) had files classified Paper Only, much to Oracle's frustration.

Mr. Giles looked up. "Ah, nice to meet you – and I hope you had a good workout with Dawn. Now, tell me something about yourself – and in particular where an English teacher learned to fight like that. I know you didn't mention Capoeira on the application form."

Helena winced internally. With hindsight, it probably wasn't wise to have matched Dawn's Capoeira as Mr. Giles seemed far too sharp. She saw Willow mutter something and her eyes flash, and a tiny shudder Helena associated with magic ran down her spine. She opened her mouth to reply.

Helena relaxed slightly as three of her four interrogators left the room, leaving her alone with Mr. Giles. She had realised after about three sentences that she was completely unable to lie in this interview, and had been concentrating on not mentioning the words "Huntress", "Oracle", "The JLA", "The Outsiders", "Batman", "Black Canary" and a few others. Fortunately, her interrogators seemed more interested in whether she was a real teacher and her experience, turning over why she had been fired in Gotham in minute detail. And whether she might endanger kids. And whether she had real combat experience. And more other things than Helena cared to think about. While she had been concentrating on not giving things away. (And have you ever played "Don't think of the elephant?"). The one thing that surprised her was the emphasis on her views about metas – possibly that's what this school was about.

But still, two hours of such interrogation made this probably the most exhausting mission she had ever faced – although she suspected they weren't trained interrogators, they made a formidable team with Xander goofing around most of the time and throwing some extremely penetrating questions when not expected, Willow babbling (and reminding her of Impulse) and throwing very penetrating questions, and Giles mostly watching, but missing nothing. She paused for a minute to recover.

"I'm impressed." Helena had forgotten that Giles was still in the room. "Very few people could cope with that interrogation. And if you still want it, the job's yours – but we have a final test if you want the job."

"A chance to actually teach girls to protect themselves as well as to teach? And no problems if I get bruises from dealing with muggers? I'm in." To her surprise, Helena realised that this was true.

"In which case, can I show you round the school. And before I forget, your devices are about to start working." With that, Helena was relieved to hear a crackle of static in her earrings.

Parcel Passing Time

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 01:03:46 GMT

Obligatory disclamer: Characters property of DC comics. Don't sue please.

***********************

Batgirl woke up her mouth full of something papery, and saw nothing. She was lying on her back, her wrists crossed and bound behind her, and her ankles were tied wide apart. Her neck had what felt like a choker, but she realised she probably shouldn't pull it. Keeping still so they wouldn't know she'd woken up, she tried to assess her surroundings.

Her boots, her gloves, her utility belt, and her cloak had all been taken off, but whoever had caught her had left her suit and cowl on. A vine had been wound round her right foot, and another had been draped over her left ankle. Also there was something she suspected was a vine in her hair. Tugging and twisting with her wrists had no effect, but breathing out through her nose deflected her breath, and she heard paper crinkle slightly above her. Seemingly Harley had caught her and gift-wrapped her for Ivy's birthday.

Batgirl quickly found that twisting or tugging on her ribbons just pulled other ribbons, either strangling her or one leg pulling the other. Seemingly Harley was getting better at this. She therefore had no choice but to await her fate, her mind imagining and anticipating what was going to happen when Ivy unwrapped her.

How Ivy would start was fairly predictable. She'd put one bare foot on Batgirl's chest, and put just enough weight to establish dominance. (As if she needed to. Batgirl was helpless anyway, and was addicted to adrenaline). Then the vines at her feet would grow, lifting her to dangle upside down in the air. (Ivy, thinking she was a plant, associated touching the ground with safety).

What was sparking Batgirl's imagination was what the vine by her head would do. She wondered whether it would enter her mouth, climb up her neck to fondle her breasts, climb past her breasts and right up her body, bind her arms and wrists, or something else entirely. Each was nice in its own way, and her hips rocked as she pictured it.

******

The day-dreaming Batgirl was getting frustrated. And impatient. Harley had bound her so she could not get any friction or release. She therefore didn't allow the vines in her mind past the tops of her thighs or her navel. But then Ivy was an expert in tantalising, and sometimes made a vine bud a flower almost in her cleft. The flower would then open with a slow caress without ever giving quite enough pressure. And then Ivy did it again. Babs normally begged after the first flower, and was willing to surrender her real name after the third one opened directly over her clit. Not that she would offer, or that either Harley or Ivy would care.

But remembering that really wasn't helping her relax or get any less frustrated. She was slightly relieved to feel the vines at her feet twich slightly, which meant that their mistress was getting near. A crash, a thump, and a curse of "Interfering Busybody" made her think that she'd better calm down as she was possibly about to be rescued (although she could blame her condition on the tang of sex-pollen in the air). Although if her rescuee failed things were going to get very interesting.

Amanda Waller naked she thought, and then realised that thinking of a clever, confident, and capable woman naked was really not going to help. Harvey Bullock's spandex bat-suit she thought, before remembering what happened to her on the night she saw that. The Bat-boys had both been away, and she discovered that Ivy was planning on holding the Gotham police' fancy dress ball hostage. So she dressed herself up in green body paint, put on a green latex face mask, and stole one of Ivy's leafotards. Her first discovery was exactly where the roots were, and how the leafotards drank. But the haze of arousal probably helped her pretend to be Ivy. That had been fun, and with her ordering Ivy's henchmen around the police found rounding them up trivial.

All good things (including Siamese Human Knots) must come to an end, and it ended when Ivy (with one minion left, and Harley) had spotted her. Batgirl barely had time to realise that wearing a plant was a bad idea when facing Poison Ivy before it tightened round her waist into a really tight corset, and vines looped out from her outfit, tying her legs together and her arms tightly by her sides. Batgirl crashed to the floor. Ivy prowled towards the helpless Batgirl, and reached one hand out. A vine looped up between her breasts and round Batgirl's neck, and Ivy held it like a leash. The vines round her legs loosened slightly, allowing Batgirl to struggle to her feet, breathless and leashed. Ivy smiled and tugged on the leash, forcing Batgirl to follow her back to the park.

*****

It seemed what both Harley and Ivy wanted was Batgirl to dance. First, Harley had Ivy extend vines upwards and danced Batgirl like a marionette. Ivy sat watching, amused, and created a thorn (normally fairly short and digging into her breast) whenever Batgirl didn't follow fast enough or say what Harley told her to. After about ten minutes, Batgirl was in such a haze that following Harley's pulls and orders became almost second-nature. And when Harley told her to have a screaming orgasm she did, much to her surprise.

Ivy then ordered her corset to loosen, and gave Batgirl a few minutes to catch her breath. Being a lot fitter than Ivy, Batgirl recovered faster than expected and tried to sneak out. She wasn't sure what gave her away, but the leafotard suddenly constricted around her. "Batgirl," Ivy had called. "Naughty toys get punished. Crawl back to us and we'll be nice. Don't and..." The roots clenched round Batgirl's clit hard, bringing tears to her eyes. Batgirl bit her lip to prevent herself crying out, and crawled back, dripping wet. She then kissed Ivy's foot as directed, and laid herself over Harley's knee for her punishment spanking. Harley's caresses between each smack, and her refusal to be consistent in either strength or frequency had only added to the effect.

It was then Ivy's turn for a dance. In this case, Ivy wanted her to pole-dance (or rather tree-dance, it being Ivy). And she gave immediate feedback - more thorns if she didn't like something, and caresses with the roots if she did. By this point Batgirl's breasts were feeling like a pair of pincushions (although Ivy had been careful not to prick deeply enough to draw blood), and her bottom was still on fire. She was also dripping wet. With that sort of instant feedback, the graceful Batgirl (who had never danced like that before) learned fast enough to put some pros to shame. She could see the effect of her gyrations making both Harley's and Ivy's eyes as lust-filled as her own (which amplified her own lust). But with them paying that much attention to her, and her reaching the limits of exhaustion from dancing, it was time to end it.

She gyrated across past both her captors (Harley's eyes on her legs, Ivy's on her hips), and pressed a concealed button. Solid light filled the room, and Batgirl came hard. Ivy and Harley on the other hand were knocked out by the trap (Batgirl's coloured and polarised contact lenses protected her from the trap she'd concealed when she stole the leafotard). Batgirl looked down regretfully at Harley, realising that she didn't have the energy to take revenge (Ivy really wouldn't like it, but Harley enjoyed being caught even more than Batgirl herself did), cuffed both girls, and gingerly removed Ivy's plant, putting her Batgirl costume back on. She then called Arkham for a take-away (or at least to take their inmates away).

*****

Remembering that evening really hadn't helped her situation, and in the minutes she'd been remembering the noise outside had stopped. The door to what was obviously her cell creaked open, and she heard high heels clicking towards her. She speculated on who it would be - the walk was too fast for Ivy, and each step was too long for Harley. Fortunately the librarian's brain kicking in was enough to pull her mind into some sort of coherence. The wrapping paper was torn off, and she saw a blonde angel who knelt down and undid the bow in her mouth. "Supergirl?" she said, blankly.

"Batgirl?" Supergirl replied. "Soon have you out of there." Supergirl tore the wrapping paper off, and pulled the bow out of her mouth. Batgirl flicked her wrist - Harley had used a highwayman's hitch to bind her - utterly impossible to undo by tugging, but trivial if you pulled the free end. "Bet you're glad." Supergirl paused and breathed out. Batgirl shuddered as the the cold super-breath wafted across her breasts. Supergirl looked again into Batgirl's eyes and raised one exquisite eyebrow. Batgirl saw Supergirl's head bend down, and her eyes closed as she melted into the kiss.

"Want to join the mile-high supers club?" Supergirl breathed. Batgirl just moaned, letting her body make her assent plain. Batgirl watched Supergirl's hot, lust-filled gaze travel over her body, making her skin tingle. It wasn't until Supergirl then took off with her in her arms that Batgirl realised that the gaze had shredded both ribbons and costume. The now naked Batgirl's eyes closed as she kissed Supergirl again and locked her legs around Supergirl's waist. She hoped Supergirl knew where she was going, and was entirely unaware of the length of red ribbon Supergirl had picked up on impulse.